2015 AUDI A3 CABRIOLET warning light

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-Failure to pay attention to the warning
light that come on, could lead to person­
al injury.
Why safety belts?
Frontal collisions and the law of physics
Frontal crashes create very strong forces for
people riding in vehicles .
Fig. 1 31 Unb elt e d oc cupan ts in a ve hicle h ead ing for a
wall
Fig. 132 T he vehicle c ras hes into the wall
The physical principles are simple. Both the
veh icle and the passengers possess energy
which varies w ith veh icle speed and body
weight . Engineers call this energy "kinetic en­
e rgy."
T he higher the speed of the vehicle and the
greater the vehicle's weight, the more energy
that has to be "absorbed" in the crash .
Vehicle speed is the most significant factor . If
the speed doubles from 15 to 30 mph (25 to
50 km/h), the ene rgy increases 4 t imes!
Because the passengers of th is veh icle are not
using safety belts
c:::;, fig. 131, they will keep
mov ing at the same speed the vehicle was
mov ing just befo re the crash, unt il something
stops them - here, the wall ¢
fig. 132 .
Safety belts 139
The same principles apply to people s itting in
a vehicle that is involved in a frontal coll ision .
Even at c ity speeds of 20 to 30 mph (30 to
SO km/h), the forces acting on the body can
reach one ton (2,000 lbs, or 1,000 kg) or
more . At greater speeds, these fo rces are even
highe r.
Peop le who do not use safety belts are also
not attached to their vehicle . In a frontal colli­
s ion they will also keep moving forward at the
speed their veh icle was travel ling just before
the crash . Of co urse, the laws of physics don't
just app ly to frontal collisions, they determine
what happens i n all k inds of a cc ident s and col­
li s ions .
What happens to occupants not wearing
safety belts?
In crashes unbelted occupants cannot stop
themselves from flying forward and being in­
jured or killed . Always wear your safety belts!
Fi g. 1 33 A drive r not wear ing a safety bel t is v io len tly
t hrown forward
Fig . 1 34 A rear pa sse nger not wearing a safety be lt
w ill fl y forw ar d a nd str ike t he dr ive r
Unbelted occupants are not able to resist the
tremendous forces of impact by holding tight
or bracing themselves . Without the benefit of
safety restra int systems, the unrestra ined ..,_

142 Safet y belt s
To provide maximum protection, sa fety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restr aint
properly ¢
page 60, Front seats .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place befo re using the belt¢.&, .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even­
l y across the chest and pelvis¢.&, .
.,. Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hea r it latch securely
¢ fig . 136.
.,. Pull on the be lt to m ake s ure th at it is se-
curely latched in the b uckle .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is eq uipped w ith an automat­
ic belt retractor on the shoulder be lt . T his fea­
ture locks the be lt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard bra king and in an acci dent.
The belt may also lock when yo u drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely .
Safety belt pret ensioners
The sa fe ty belts are equippe d wi th a be lt pre­
tensioner that helps to tigh ten the safety bel t
and remove s lack when the pretensioner is ac ­
tivated ¢
page 144. The function of the pre­
tensioner is monitored by a warning light
¢page 20.
Convert ible locking ret ractor
E very sa fe ty belt except the one on the dr iver
seat is eq uipped with a convertib le locking re­
tractor that
must be used when the safety
be lt is used to attach a child seat. Be s ure to
read the important information about this
feature ¢
page 180 .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause se rious injury in an accident
¢ page 142, Safety bel t p osition.
- Saf ety belts offe r optim um pro te ction
only wh en the seatba ck is upr ight and be
lts are properly posit ioned on the
body.
- Never attach the safety be lt to the buck­
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause serious per ­
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by t he safety
be lt itse lf w hen it moves from the stro n­
ge r parts of the body into cr itica l areas
like the abdomen .
- Always lock the conve rtible locking re­
tracto r when you are secu ring a child
seat in t he ve hicl e¢
page 182.
© Tips
Fo r information on safety belt pretens ion­
ers, refer to¢
page 144.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 137 Safet y bel t pos it ion
Stan dard fea tures o n your veh icle he lp yo u ad ­
ju st the pos ition o f th e safety be lt to ma tch
your body s ize .
- he ight-adjus table fron t seats.
A WARNING
Imp ro pe rl y pos it io ned safety be lts ca n
cause ser ious perso nal injury in an a cci­
dent.
-
- T he s hou lder be lt should lie as close to
the center o f the collar bone as possible
an d should fit well on the body. Hol d the
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148 Airbag sys tem
and dia gnostic equipment to properly re­
place any a irbag in your vehicle and
assure system effectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled a ir­
bags to be installed in your veh icle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
~ Be sure to read the impo rtant informat ion
and heed the WARNINGS for impo rtant de­
ta ils about ch ild ren and Advanced Airbags
Qpage 169.
Even though you r vehicle is equ ipped with an
Advanced Airbag Sys tem, ma ke certain that
all c hildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back sea t properly
restrained for their age and size . The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to ride.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child seat. It can be a
ve ry dangerous p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the require­
ments of United States Federa l Motor Ve hicle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your ve hicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup ­
p ressed") if a c hild up to about one year of
age restra ined in one of the rear-facing o r fo r­
ward -facing infan t restra ints listed in Federal
M otor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with w hich
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. Fo r a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
Q page 171.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off by the e lectronic control unit. E
ach time you switch on the ignition, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG O FF
light will come on for a
f ew seconds and :
- w ill stay on if the fro nt passenge r seat is not
occupied,
- w ill stay on i f the e lec tric al ca pacit ance
meas ured by the capacitive passenger de ­
tection system for the front passenger seat equa ls the combined capacitance of an in ­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearward-facing or forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with wh ich the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
c e rt ified . Fo r a listing of t he chi ld restraints
t ha t were used to certify you r vehi cle's com­
p lian ce w it h t he U.S. Safety Stand ard
Q page 171.
-w ill stay on if there is a small ch ild or child
restr aint on the front passenge r seat,
- will go off if t he front pa ssenge r seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as regis tered by the ca ­
pacitive passenge r de tection sys tem
c::> page 158, Monitoring the Advanced Air·
bag System.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when e lec trica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is eq ua l to or less tha n
t h e comb ined capacitance of a typica l 1 year­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward-facing chi ld restraints listed in Fede r­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year -o ld child but less than the
weight of a small adu lt , the front airbag on
t h e passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by t he e lec­
t ro nic cont ro l unit a nd can deploy if the con­
t ro l u nit se nses an impact tha t mee ts the con-
di tions s tored in its memory .
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Fo r exa mple, the airbag may depl oy if:
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
page 171), or
- a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
P ASS ENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criter ia to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
r::> page 159, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er insta lled on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rapidly in­
flating passenger's airbag in a frontal colli­
sion. The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the child restraint and even se­
riously injure the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children - when properly
restrained according to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit
in the back seat
r::> page 169, Child Safety .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
- T he inflating airbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and wi ll
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenger seat
-
A irbag system 149
because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately install the rear-fac ing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your A udi dealer.
- Forward-facing child seats installed on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the dep loyment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always ma ke s ure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru ­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
backrest must be adjusted to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
l ight comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ig nit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the ri sk of ser ious injury, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light wi ll be displayed whenever a child re ­
straint is insta lled on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
¢ page 158, Monitoring the Ad-
vanced Airbag System.
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150 Airbag system
-Take the child restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PA SS EN ­
GE R AI R BAG OFF
light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer immed iately.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
sta lling child restraints .
A WARNING ,.
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-fac ing child
restraint on the front passenge r's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
t ion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de ­
ploys and serio usly injure or even kill the
child -even wi th an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or car rier .
- Always m ake su re that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the Airbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on the
seat. The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on w hen it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the ai rbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants .
Fig . 14 0 Loc atio n of drive r air b a g : i n stee ring wheel
Fig. 141 Loc ation of fro nt passe nge r's a irbag: in the in ­
str umen t pa nel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System " in compliance with Un ited
States Federa l Motor Veh icle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time you r
vehicle was manufactured . The safety belts
for the seats have "pretensioners" that help to take slack out of the belt system. The pre­
ten sioners are also act ivated by the electronic
control unit for the airbag system.
T he front safety belts also have load lim iters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
whee l hub
c:> fig. 140 and the airbag fo r the
front pas senger is in the instr ument panel
¢ fig . 141. The gener al location of the a irbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
T here is a lot you need to know about the a ir­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
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of a typical 1 year-old, but less than the
weight of a small adult, the front airbag on
the passenger s ide may deploy (the
PASSEN·
GER AIR BA G OFF
light does not come on).
For example, the a irbag may depl oy if:
- a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
page 171),
-a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
I f the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the center
of the inst rument panel w ill come on and stay
on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
F ederal Standard requires the a irbag to meet
the " low ris k" deployment criteria to help re ­
d uce the risk of injury through interaction
with the airbag . "Low risk" deployment occurs
in those crashes that take place at lower de­
celerations as defined in the electronic control
un it
r:::> page 158.
Alway s remember : Even though your vehicle
is equipped with Advanced Airbags, the safest
p lace for children is properly restrained on the
back seat. Please be sure to read the impor­
tant information in the sect ions that follow
and be sure to heed all of the WARNINGS .
A WARNING
To reduce the risk of injury when an airbag
inflates, a lways wear safety belts prope rly.
- If you are unrestrained, lean ing forward,
sitting sideways or out of position in any
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
- You w ill also receive serious injuries and
cou ld even be killed if you are up against
the a irbag or too close to it when it in­
fla tes - even with an Advanced Airbag
page 146 .
A WARNING ,~
A child in a rearward -facing child seat in -
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
-
A irbag system 153
seriously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates - even w ith an Ad­
vanced A irbag System.
- Altho ugh the Advanced Airbag System in
your veh icle is designed to turn off the
front airbag when a rearward-facing child restraint has been installed on the
front passenge r seat, nobody can abso­
lutely guarantee that dep loyment is im­
possible in all conceivable s ituations that
may happen dur ing the usef ul life of your
veh icle.
- The infla ting airbag will h it the ch ild seat
or infant carrier with g reat force and will
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door, or
roof.
- Always install rearward-facing chi ld re­
straints on the rear seat.
- If you must insta ll a rearwa rd fac ing
child seat on the front passenger seat because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i·
ately insta ll the rear-fac ing child seat in a
rea r seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by you r Audi dealer .
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward-facing child restraint on
the front passenge r's seat:
- Always ma ke sure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and cer tified by
its manufacture r for use on a front se at
with a passenger fron t and s ide a irbag .
- Never put the fo rward-facing child re­
straint up against or ve ry near the instru­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rea rmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as fa r away from
the airbag as possible, before installing
the forward-fac ing chi ld restraint. The
backrest must be ad justed to an upright
position .
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154 Airbag sys te m
- Always make su re that t here is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenge r detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the A irbag
System that the seat is occupied by a
person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occ upied by someone who is heavier
than the person actu ally s itting on the
sea t. The presence of additiona l obje cts
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on when it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the airbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
light comes o n and stays on all the
t ime whenever the ignition is switched
on.
Advanced Airbag System components
The front passenger seat in your vehicle has a
l o t of very important pa rts of the Advanced
A irbag System in it. These parts incl ude the
capacitive passenger detect ion sys tem, wir­
ing, brac kets, and more . The cont ro l unit
monitors the system on the front passenger
seat when the ign ition is switched on and
turns the airbag indicator light on w hen a
malfunction i n the one of the system compo­
n ents is detected
c::;, page 159 . Because the
front passenge r seat contains important pa rts
of the Advanced Airbag System, you must
take ca re to pr even t it from be ing damaged.
Damage to the seat may preven t the Ad ­
vanced A irbag System for the front passenger
seat from doing its job in a crash .
The front Advanced Airbag System
consists of the following:
- Crash senso rs in the front o f the veh icle that
measure ve hicle acceleration/dece leration
to provide information to the Advanced Air­ bag System abo ut the severity of the crash .
- An electronic co ntro l unit, with i ntegrated
c rash sensors for f ront and side impacts.
The cont ro l unit "decides" whether to fire t
he front a irbags based on the in format ion
received from the crash sensors. The contro l
un it also "decides" whether the sa fety belt
pretens ioners sho uld be activated.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas generator fo r
the dr iver inside the steering wheel hub.
- An Advanced Airbag with gas gene rator in­
side the inst rument panel for the front pas­
senger.
- A capacit ive passenger detection system un­
derneath the front passenger seat cover.
This system measures the electrical capac i­
tance of the person in the seat. The informa­
tion registered is se nt cont inuous ly to the
elect ronic control un it to regu late deploy­
ment of the front Advanced A irbag on the
passe nger side.
- An airbag monitor ing system and indicator
light in t he i nstr ument cluster
¢ page 158.
-A senso r in each front seat registers the dis­
tanc e between the r espective seat and the
s teer ing whee l o r ins trumen t panel. The in­
form ation regis tered is sent cont inuo usly to
t he ele ct ron ic cont ro l unit to regula te de­
p loyment of the front Adv a need Ai rbags.
- The
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF ligh t comes
on and stays on in the cen ter o f the instr u­
ment panel
c::;, page 214 and tells you when
the front Advanced Airbag on the passenger
side has been turned off.
- A sensor in t he safety be lt latch fo r th e d riv­
er and for the front seat passenger that
senses whether that safety belt is latched or not and transmits this information to t he
electronic control un it .
A WARNING
--
D amage to the fron t passenger seat can
p rev ent the fro nt airbag from wor king
prop erly.
- I mp rope r re pa ir or disassembly of the
fr ont passenge r and dr ive r sea t will pre­
ven t th e Adv anced Air bag System from
functioning p ro perly.
- Repairs to the front pa ssenge r seat must
be pe rformed by qualifie d and properly
trained workshop personnel.
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Airbag system 155
-Never remove the front passenger or games device, power inverter or seat
driver seat from the vehicle. heater for child seats) on the front pas-
- Never remove the upholstery from the senger seat if the device is connected to
front passenger seat. the 12-volt socket or the cigarette light-
- Never disassemble or remove parts from er socket. Such devices can influence the
the seat or disconnect wires from it. capacitance registered by the capacitive
- Never carry sharp objects in your pockets passenger detection system, so that in-
•
correct information is provided to the
air-• or put them on the seat. The capacitive
passenger detection mat in the front bag control unit.
passenger seat will not function properly -
If you must use a child restraint on the
if it is punctured . front passenger seat
and the child re-
- Never carry things on your lap or carry straint manufacturer's instructions
re-
objects on the front passenger seat. quire the use of a towel,
foam cushion or
Such objects can influence the capaci- something else to properly position the
tance registered by the capacitive pas- child restraint, make certain that the
senger detection system, so that incor-
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes
rect information is provided to the airbag on and stays on whenever the child re-
control unit. straint is installed on the front passen-
- Never store items under the front pas- ger seat.
senger seat. Parts of the Advanced Air--
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
bag System under the passenger seat does not come on and stay on, immedi-
could be damaged, preventing them and ately
install child restraint in a rear seat-
the airbag system from working proper- ing position and have
the airbag system
Ly. inspected by your Audi dealer.
- Never place seat covers or replacement
.&_ WARNING upholstery that have not been specifical-
ly approved by Audi on the front seats.
If the front passenger seat gets wet, dry it
- Seat covers can prevent the Advanced
immediately.
Airbag System from recognizing child re- - If liquid soaks into the front passenger
straints or occupants on the front pas-
seat, this can keep the airbag system
senger seat and prevent the side airbag from working properly and may, for in-
in the seat backrest from deploying prop- stance, deactivate the passenger frontal
erly .
airbag. If this happens, the
PASSENGER
-If a seat heater has been retrofitted or AIR BAG OFF light will come on and stay
otherwise added to the front passenger on together with the airbag indicator
seat, never install any child restraint sys- light
fl in the instrument cluster.
tern on this seat. -If liquid is pooled on the seat, but has
- Never use cushions, pillows, blankets, or
not soaked in, this may also keep the air-
similar items on the front passenger bag system from working properly and
seat. The additional layers prevent the cause the passenger frontal airbag to be
capacitive passenger detection system
enabled (turned on), even though there
from accurately measuring the capaci-
is a properly installed child restraint sys-
tance of the child safety seat and/or the
tern on the seat. Wet towels or other wet
person on the seat and thus keep the Ad- things on the seat cushion can have the
M vanced Airbag System from working
same effect. If the front passenger fron-• N
" > co properly. tal airbag is turned on, the PASSENGER
,...., -Never place or use any electrical device AIR BAG OFF light will go out . \!) ..,.,
,...., (such as a laptop, CD player, electronic ..,., ,....,